Everybody loves Dubya

From tomorrow's WashPost: "Bush Gets Year-End Boost in Approval"

The poll also shows former Vermont governor Howard Dean surging ahead of his rivals in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, cementing his status as the party's front-runner a month before the first major contests, in Iowa and New Hampshire. But when matched against the president, Dean fares badly, both in a hypothetical trial heat and on who is trusted to handle both national security and domestic issues. Even many Democrats said they still know little about Dean or his views.

Red Rover, Red Rover, please send Dean over!

The poll findings show why many Democrats are nervous about Dean as a potential candidate against Bush. They also underscore the concern within the party that, because of the heavily front-loaded primary and caucus calendar, a Democratic nominee may effectively be picked before party activists outside a few early states have had a chance to evaluate the candidates and participate in the decision.

If I may add: this was a system designed by DNC chair Terry McAuliffe to front load the primaries and pick a candidate quickly so Democrats could "rally round" before the general election. Instead, the Dems are going to blind-grab a candidate without much debate; the whole process is breeding resentment and fracturing the party. So I'll say it once again: thank heaven for Terry McAuliffe.

As a candidate in the general election, Dean starts well behind Bush in the public's estimation. In an early test of strength, 55 percent of those surveyed said that if the election were held today, they would vote to reelect the president, and 37 percent said they would favor Dean. No other Democrat was tested against Bush in the Post-ABC poll.

"No other Democrat" was tested? OK!

Dean's Democratic rivals have warned that the former governor's lack of foreign policy experience would hurt him in a general election against Bush, and when asked in the poll whether they trusted the president or Dean more to handle national security and the war on terrorism, 67 percent said Bush and 21 percent Dean. Even on the kind of domestic issues that normally favor Democrats, such as Social Security, health care and education, Bush bests Dean by 50 percent to 39 percent.

So Bush leads on domestic policy, foreign policy, the economy, the war on terrorism, Social Security, education, and health care. However, Dean leads on anger, conspiracy theories, endorsements by former vice presidents, and the all-important United Nations vote. This is going to be a squeaker of 1984 proportions.